


Employee of the Week

by dakgalbis



Series: Warm Blood [3]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Office, Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:15:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27023392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dakgalbis/pseuds/dakgalbis
Summary: Seungmin and Changbin go out drinking with their co-workers after a particularly stressful week at work.
Relationships: Kim Seungmin/Seo Changbin
Series: Warm Blood [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1972180
Kudos: 63





	Employee of the Week

**Author's Note:**

> \- here is a [spreadsheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LkSrnnsJn1FQpskWbbxBetYyq14MN_ppTQJCXa8eEeE/edit?usp=sharing) with the works in this series listed in chronological order.

Changbin watched as a pair of hands from across the table poured another shot of soju into Seungmin’s shot glass. He knew Seungmin could hold his alcohol just fine, but they’d had drinks together enough times for Changbin to know that Seungmin was at his limit. He then turned his gaze to watch Seungmin down the shot in one gulp, and clumsily place the shot glass back on the table. Their other co-workers seated with them clapped their hands and let out loud cheers.

“That’s the spirit, Kim!” One of the co-workers with them reached across the table to give Seungmin a pat on the shoulder.

Another co-worker laughed. “If I were Manager Park’s Employee of the Week, I’d down the entire bottle in one go, actually.”

Changbin sighed. In a meeting earlier in the week, Seungmin had made the innocent, yet grave mistake of pointing out a hole in their manager’s argument during a meeting. Despite Seungmin being correct and how politely he stated his position, he had drawn their manager’s ire. Aside from his usual workload, the manager had piled on Seungmin menial tasks such as tidying up the stockroom, photocopying documents unrelated to his own projects, scheduling meetings, and making coffee for the whole team. Changbin knew it would pass within a week or so, he had gone through the same thing during his first year, too. He knew it was still hell to go through, though. 

“Drink the stress away, Kim. We’ll take care of you,” another one chided, while already starting to pour another shot into Seungmin’s shot glass.

“Hey, pour some for me, too!” Changbin called out in an intentionally loud and whiny voice to interrupt their co-worker from filling Seungmin’s shot glass. “I’m paying too, you know!” He couldn’t help but step in somehow. With Seungmin being the youngest member of the team, there was no way he could refuse a shot from any of the older co-workers. He didn’t seem sober enough anymore to do so, either.

“There are privileges reserved only for Manager Park’s Employee of the Week,” the co-worker hissed playfully at Changbin, though he redirected his pouring into Changbin’s shot glass anyway. 

“I was Employee of the Week, too!” Changbin retorted before downing the shot with a wince. He then turned to Seungmin. His eyes were barely open. 

Changbin placed a hand on Seungmin’s shoulder and gave him a slight shake. “You still okay?”

Seungmin gave a weak nod, accompanied with a soft hum. The entirety of his cheeks and his ears were a bright shade of pink. 

“You hang on in there, Kim. Manager Park will be done with you before you know it,” the co-worker seated right in front of Seungmin said.

“It’s pretty tough, but yeah,” Changbin concurred and gave Seungmin a pat on the back, taking the effort to keep his hand from lingering there as he would have liked.

“It’s okay, because you’re here,” Seungmin suddenly spoke, grinning lazily at Changbin.

Changbin blinked rapidly in surprise. Seungmin was always the one more careful about hiding their relationship from their co-workers, so his sudden display of affection in front of their entire team caught Changbin off-guard. Changbin chalked it up to the alcohol, and couldn’t fault Seungmin for his carelessness. It was up to him to come up with something to ward off any suspicion. That would have been something easy for him, but Seungmin himself was being distracting with the lazy grin on his face, and the way the light from directly above their table bounced off of his lips.

He couldn’t help but let the corners of his mouth turn upward.  _ Cute _ , Changbin almost said out loud. 

“Yah, Seo Changbin, you’re blushing!” Their co-workers laughed out loud. “Gross!”

“He’s blushing, too!” Changbin was quick to point at one of their more quiet coworkers on the table red with alcohol. “Jealous? Sorry, that was for me!” he clicked his tongue, while secretly hoping he was warding off any suspicion by being upfront about how pleased he was to hear what Seungmin said.

\----

“You’re smashed,” Changbin said as he tried to catch his breath. He had just dragged a very drunk Seungmin from the train station all the way up to his apartment, and helped him to bed. He reached over to loosen up Seungmin’s tie and the upper buttons of his shirt, then sat on the floor.

“I know…” Seungmin groaned with his eyes closed. “They won’t let me off.”

“Fuckers,” Changbin muttered. “Geez, you were getting reckless earlier.”

That seemed to sober Seungmin up a bit. “Shit, do you think…?”

“Nah, they’re all too dumb to figure it out,” Changbin answered, then placed a hand on top of Seungmin’s and ran his thumb along it. He wasn’t sure himself, truthfully, but it wasn’t like worrying about being caught at two in the morning was going to be productive.

“Right. Fuckers,” Seungmin echoed Changbin’s earlier sentiment.

Changbin laughed. “You’re lucky the guy you’re secretly dating is gifted with premium wit and grace. Can you imagine anyone else being as smooth as I was?”

Seungmin didn’t say anything to that. Changbin was a little disappointed that Seungmin wouldn’t indulge him with a bit of playful banter, but he understood that his boyfriend was probably too drunk and exhausted for that. It was probably best that Seungmin got some sleep already. He pushed himself off of the floor as quietly as he could and turned to head to the bathroom.

“Just as I said so, right? It’s okay because you’re here,” Seungmin suddenly spoke. His voice was soft, but Changbin could hear it clearly in his tiny one-room apartment.

Changbin only chuckled to that. There were a few more things he wanted to say, but he didn’t want to hold Seungmin back from falling asleep, and he was happy enough with what he just heard. “Indeed.”


End file.
